This thread is here to discuss and provide information about the history of life on earth.
Post interesting facts, pictures of fossils and anything else related to extinct paleofauna.
To start things off, I'll just list some interesting specimen and say a few things about them:
The first one (pic related) is Quetzalcoatlus, which is the biggest known animal to ever take to the sky. It's part of the group Azhdarchidae, which is one of the few pterosaur groups to make it to the KT boundary 66mya. You'll notice that it's covered in a hair-like integument. These are called "pycnofibres", which may or may not represent extremely primitive feathers.
this one is Dickinsonia, the most prominent of the Pre-Cambrian "Vendobiota", who mostly resemble water-filled mattresses of different shapes and sizes. They represent one of the first multicellular organisms in the fossil record. The strange thing is that no one is quite sure what these things are. We don't know if they're animals or plants. Some paleontologists actually believe they belong to a different type of organism entirely.
>Pikaia
>Late Cambrian
even though it's just a few centimeters long and looks like a worm, Pikaia is tremendously important, since it's the possible common ancestor to all vertebrates (or very close to that).
>Yi Qi
>Late Jurassic
this is a very basal Paraves (which is the base of the evolutionary line that leads to birds) and was found in China. It retains many features of a classic reptile (jaw with teeth, unfused fingers, ...) and has a particularly interesting wing, which is made up of a membrane that's spanned up between the fingers.
>Leedsichthys
>Middle Jurassic
it may be the longest fish in earth's history, though it is hard to tell because no complete skeleton has ever been found (paleontologists think that large parts of this fish were made up of cartilage instead of bone, which is way harder to fossilize).
It very likely fed on plankton, much like modern whales.
>Paraceratherium
>Late Paleogene
one of the largest land mammals ever with a height of up to 5 meters. It inhabited large parts of Eurasia and probably was too big for most predators. Considering it's enormous size, combined with the fact they lived in a ecosystem of relativley scarce vegetation, they probably had giant feeding ranges and constantly migrated in search of food.
>Cooksonia
>Silurian
considered to be the first vascular plant, Cooksonia is thought to have had a global distribution. Though it is not to be confused with the first land plant. The first terrestrial plants occured sometime during the Ordovician and are only known through fossil spores.
>Tetrapodophis
>Early Cretaceous
being discovered as recently as 2015, Tetrapodophis is one of the most important finds for snake evolution because it not only is extremely old but it's also the only known fossil snake that still has it's vestigal extremeties. It therefore is a textbook example of a transitional species.
>>2150371
IDK some sources put them at barley 10m while others put them at over 40 (which would make them bigger than a fucking blue whale).
For all we know, they could fly.
rauisuchians>dinosaurs
bump
nice thread anon
>>2150401
Because that shows any real "transition". whos to say that species wasn't just a snake that grew legs to live in trees or burrow like lizards that were around? Why does it mean snakes came from lizards?why can't both could be separate and living simultaneously? It doesn't have the flat tail, suggesting that it wasn't from marine ancestors.
>>2151970
because animals like snakes can't just spontaneously re evolve limbs
>>2151970
You also have this dwarf burrowing skinks, that are as transitional as possible, they move like snakes but are actually lizards.
Check mate creationists.
I often how many extinct animals had amazing features and adaptations that had no potential for fossilizing. Look at how different something like an elephant looks from its skeleton for example. Maybe those bones on hadrosaur skulls were there to support boom boxes made entirely out of cartilage.
>>2152606
*I often wonder
The Archaeologists are asleep, post Dinosauroids.
>>2152684
>>2152688
>>2150334
>lecturing others
>calls it the KT boundary
OP, Original Plebeian
>>2152690
>>2152693
>Tertiary is the former term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.58 million years ago
>former term
>The Tertiary is no longer recognized
>no longer recognized
>>2152606
I am personally related to Dimetrodon.
>>2152777
wrong end of the synapsid tree
mammals are Cynodonts, Dimetrodon was a Sphenacodontont
>>2152775
d&d/10
>>2152775
epic
>>2150334
You have no fucking clue the can of worms you just opened.
>>2152777
Too soon for this?
>>2152775
Ah yes, the greater double breasted WARBLING brachiosaur.
>>2152775
that would be a huge liability think of the parasites that could live in the folds of that shit. not to mention it's sort of a hazard something to get punctured by tree branches
>>2150401
how did it tie its shoes?
checkmate, atheists
>>2154125
>parasites
Preyed upon by small pterosaurs
>punctured
Great frigatebird
>>2152606
And birds have some of the most intricate displays of any tetrapod, or even vertebrates. I'd most likely believe that dinosaurs had amazing features.
